Demons in Death
by Grim Kitty Kisa
Summary: Umm its and oc fic not sure where its going but I'll find out eventualy, ya I dont know yet I'll tell you when I know. Kiri is a fading kitsune that gets dragged in to everything because of one simple mistake. Rateing is for language. Not yaoi.
1. Chapter 1

**A/N: Well hi. This is my first fanfic please reveiw. And I don't own bleach. Oh and my keyboard hates me so sometimes... it wont register when I type certain letters. Sorry.**

**Many thanks to my beta, Kurohane Ookami. **

***Note* Said beta hates my awful grammar. But it's all good since we know each other. xD**

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_Prologue_

It was hard to breathe. Why was it getting hard to breathe again?

Her vision was narrowing on the drab black chalkboard, the world was getting fuzzy, and it was starting to tilt dangerously to the left.

_Aw crap. _

~::::~

She was laying down.

_What the _shit_. _

Shouldn't she be in class? How the _hell _did she get here? What exactly had happend?

Without moving she attempted to remember what happened. She'd had been sitting in class...and then she heard something about pie...but she had been in Math, so why were they talking about _pie_?

_No, focus. _She told herself. She could _not_ be distracted about pie. After all, she was 250 years old for Kami's sake! What interest did she have in a class that talked about pie?

Okay..After the talk of pie, she vaguely remembered everything going fuzzy. And then an image of cliffs and snow, the scent of ash.

A smell pulled her out of her thoughts. It was the ungodly stench of disinfect and cleaner that all hospitals and docters reeked of on a daily basis. She mentally cringed. Oh boy, did she ever want to get the heck out of here now.

"I hope that stuck up Ice Queen dosent wake up for a while."

"I _know_. I hate math, at least she's useful when shes unconscious. I mean, really. We'd have never gotten out of class otherwise."

_Ice queen?_ Couldnt they be just a _little _more creative? Kiri recognised the voices as the two queen bitches of the school. _Anya and Tane...right?_

Well. That explained everything. Those two wouldn't be able to think for themselves, even if the world was ending. Well, if getting up resulted in pissing them off, then it was due time to get up.

She slowly started to sit up, groaning at the tingling in her scalp.

"What the hell- Oh good, your awake." Anya pursed her lips, slanted eyes reminding Kiri of something akin to a toad or a rat. Maybe a snake..

She wondered why the bitch had decided to sing a different tune, but noted the nurse coming into the door. _Ah, now that would explain the fake concern._

"What happened?" Kiri asked. "I remember sitting in class and then I woke up here."

"Zalanshi-san, you don't normally wear the tie of the school's uniform, do you?"

"No, why?" She was getting more and more baffled, what did that have to do with anything?

"Well Zalanshi-san, even if you don't generally wear it properly you should at least know how to. Unless your trying to kill yourself- Kami, you're not trying to commit suicide are you? And in a public school no less!" the poor woman looked like she was about to grab Kiri's wrists and check them for scars.

Suicide? Where the bloody hell did she come up with that? Kami, humans could be stupid at times. Whatever. She didn't even want to come back to this school today. Ah well, at least now she had a reason to leave. But how did she choke herself? Her tie had been left loosely around her neck. It hadn't been tied.

_Did those two try to fucking kill me?_

A slight breeze snaked its way through her hair, and the tingling faded as it was numbed by the coolness. Ah. That could only be the twin air spirits that liked to tease her.

She looked at the nurse while holding a hand to her head like she had a headache. "I wasn't feeling well this morning when I got up, so I guess I wasn't paying close enough attention to what I was doing. May I leave early today? Even though it's my last one before I transfer?"

The nurse nodded. "Yes, you may Zalanshi-san. Just remember to sign out before you leave."

"Hai." she replied weakly, playing up her 'sickness' for all it was worth. "I won't forget."

Besides, even if she did, she could just blame being 'sick'.

The nurse nodded once before she left, leaving Kiri alone in the room. The two bitches had left during the conversation, obviously not seeing any point in sticking around and answering questions when they could just as easily be skipping class.

Kiri left without signing out. There was really no point, considering she was transferring.

~::::~

The wind brought with it the giggling of two small childern, along with the scent of ashes.

_Geez what would you have done if you killed me you two. I was going to blame the two Queens of the Bully Society._

The one just giggled louder, while the other looked thoroughly scolded.

"Kaze told me to! He said that you would like it.." his voice was slightly panicked.

"Dont bother Kuri. She can't even see us." the other snickered. "Let's go."

As the giggling faded away Kiri sighed. It was true. After all, she couldnt see any more then a shimmer anymore. Her fog coloured tail drooped to the ground, the near see though fur whisping away into nothing.

~::::~

Kiri looked at her new high school, ignoring the fact that people were staring at her.

Sighing, she stepped into the grounds, not bothering to try to button up the white shirt, white was loosely hanging over a grey skirt. Her socks were pissing her off already. Who in their right mind decided to have knee high socks in a uniform?

Other than that, she mused, she supposed it wasn't so bad.

"Who knows? Maybe Karakura High School will actually be interesting this time around."

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**Well I hope you liked it I'll try to post the next chapter soon but I'll try to post sooner if I get some reveiws.**


	2. Chapter 2 The begining

**A/N: Well here's the next chapter. **

**Another shout out to Kurohane Ookami, my whiny Beta who has yet to post another chapter for her own fics. **

**P.S. The above is written by Kurohane Ookami. By the way. **

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As Kiri walked down the halls to the office, she ignored the irritating knee high socks. She couldnt help but notice that she wasn't seeing the true faces of the people as she walked by them. Only the masks of the people they pretended to be. She giggled quietly, so as to not attract any unwanted attention, as she passed one of the janitorial staff, his face twisted into a comical scowl.

_I really haven't seen anyone in all my years who hasn't been wearing a mask of some kind._ She realized with a pang, finally coming to a halt outside of the principal's office. Odds were that she would fade away long before she ever met one with their true self shining through the cracks.

Talking to the principal about rules, and holy hell were there a lot of them, took a little over an hour. Added to the time it took to find out which class she was to be in, as well as finding it where it was, there was only a handful of minutes before lunch period.

~::::~

As she walked towards her classroom, she paused for a second to pull up the goddamned socks. _Would they notice if I didn't wear them? _Kiri wondered.

The door to a classroom was flung open, two teens thrown out and hitting the opposite wall with a solid thunk. As she looked at the sign above the door, she realized that it was her classroom. Kiri shrugged and looked at the two boys laying on the floor. Well, now wrestling.

One had bright orange hair sticking in every direction and a scowl, although whether or not it was permanent was to be determined. The other, one who had tribal tattoos for eyebrows and red hair hair tied back, could only be described as a pineapple.

The guy with the orange hair was currently on top of the pineapple headed guy, strangling him. They started rolling on the floor each trying to be on top, earning a couple...interesting..thoughts in return from Kiri. Not that she would voice them out loud anyway.

Kiri folded her arms in front of her and leaned against the nearby wall, wearing a mildly amused expression on her face. The two kept it up, without seeing her untill they rolled onto her feet. She loved their reaction to being watched, which was to spring up and apart, both of them turning a deep shade of red. Pineapple-head's face was competing with his hair, and so far, his face was winning.

"How fucking long have you been standing there?" Pineapple-head raged, though his eyes weren't meeting her own.

"Well, only since the beginning." she replied with a mocking smile, though in all honesty she wanted nothing better than to collapse in hysterics on the hall floor.

"Why the hell didn't you say anything!" This time they where both yelling the same thing.

She smirked. "Because I didn't feel like it. Besides, that would have ruined my entertainment."

"Who the hell are you anyway? I've never seen you here before!" This came from the guy with the orange hair. Which, now that she examined it closer, was almost red. _Almost like a strawberry..._

The door to there class room slammed open, and a female teacher's head popped out. "I thought I told you to be quiet and behave!" she started yelling at the two boys. The two looked on in horror as she then proceeded to rant at them for the next four minutes and twenty-three seconds.

Finally, she paused to take a breath, no doubt about to continue ripping them a new one, when she noticed the female leaning against the wall.

"Oh for the love of Kami, who the hell are you?" she huffed.

"I'm Kiri Zalanshi. I transferred here today." she replied politely.

"Transfer student? Oh right...I forgot about that. Anyway, I'm your homeroom teacher, Misato Ochi. Come and intorduce yourself to the rest of the room."

_Bipolar much? _Kiri couldn't help but think to herself before following the woman into the room.

~::::~

What people saw as she walked into their classroom for the first time was a girl a little over five feet tall, with a pale, almost white complexion similar to that of an albino. Her ice blue eyes seemed to be shifting like the deepest ocean, her white hair in a thick braid that fell down to her waist. Her uniform was a little more personalized, without the red tie, the shirt untucked and hanging comfortably over the grey skirt. Keigo, of course, only noticed the fact she had Orihime sized boobs.

~::::~

Kiri turned to face the class, only to see some brown haired guy flying towards her chest. Without actually thinking about what she was doing, she turned slightly and kicked him out the closed window.

"Oh Kami, I'm sorry!"

As she started to walk towards the window, a girl with shorter spiked black hair spoke up.

"Don't bother. It would take a hell of a lot more to kill that pervert." Kiri looked at the girl, then at the window, shrugged, and then introduced herself, bowing and allowing her aura to expand out slightly to probe at the students own auras.

Ochi-sensei told her to sit behind a black haired boy called Mizuiro Kojima, and as she walked to her seat, the door was slammed open as the brown haired boy launched himself at her chest yet again.

Kiri stepped to the side and allowed him to run out the window through the same hole he'd made a few minutes earlier as she took her seat.

~::::~

Rukia, Chad, Uryu, Orihime, and Ikkaku and Yumichika didn't pay any attention to Keigo since they had been too busy staring at the foggy shape of fox ears taking the place of the normal, human shaped ones, and a long, foggy tail, grey whisps flitting off every few seconds.

~::::~

During lunch, she found her way up to the roof, hoping that it would be empty so that she could enjoy the view in peace.

However, as she walked out the door she heard her name mentioned from the other side of the roof. Silently, she slipped over to hear what they were saying. But whatever she expected, this definitely wasn't it.

"Did any of you see fox ears and tail or am I just seeing things?" that was Ichigo speaking, his eyes widened in disbelief.

"No we saw them too Ichigo." this came from a black haired girl in her class whose name she didnt know.

The other people there were the other girl with the big boobs, a guy with black hair and glasses, Pineapple-head, a bald guy, a black haired male with feathers stuck to his brow, and the large mexican guy, Sado, who sat beside him.

Pineapple-head turned to the girl with black hair. "Rukia, we should go and ask Urahara-san and see if he knows anything." the black haired girl, Rukia, turned to him and replied, "What did you think I was going to do, you dumbass?"

Kiri had heard enough. Turning, she walked back into the building, musing over their words.

~::::~

Kiri spent the rest of the day thinking out what she should do about them, ignoring class. It wasn't like she was learning anything new anyway.

The question preoccupied her while walking 'home', as well to the point of not seeing the rather intimidating cracks tearing through the sky. Well, actually, she did when she heard the blood curdling howl as the creature within came after her.

It had a white bird like body, with a snake like mask, with large fangs. She stood there, frozen in her thoughts. When was the last time she had seen a hollow? Scratch that, when was the last time she had seen any thing this clearly? And what the hell could she do in this Jia Ti?

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**A/N: Well, there's the second chapter, I hope you all enjoyed. And Review. Please. So that my poor Beta's efforts are not in vain. Added by my beta**

**Jia Ti: Fake Body [artificial body] in chinese**


	3. Chapter 3

Well, here's another chapter.

Thanks to Kurohane Ookami for finally beta-ing this chapter.

The hollow was getting closer. Why the fuck was it here? She had no reishi any more, so why would it have any interest in her linghun? Goddamnit, she couldn't even make fox fire anymore. Kiri looked up sharply as she realized how quickly the Hollow was moving. As the dangerously sharp claws swooped down, she dove to the left, realizing just how much slower she had become in her jia ti. The Hollow swerved, the jagged talons nearly slashing her from collarbone to hip. Why was it always her that had to have the bad luck? She once could have dodged the blows effortlessly and ended its pitiful existence before it could realize what had happened. But that was before she had begun to fade. Her jia ti was only as strong as her linghun, and she was close to fading.

She dodged another blow, but she could already feel herself growing weary. She wanted nothing more to close her eyes and let herself be done with this pitiful world.

Her vision was flickering, and she found herself suddenly surrounded by the sent of ash.

Call me. A voice whispered, the tone feminine. Call my name.

The voice, whispery and hoarse as it was, was commanding. But there was no longer a name to call, nor would there ever be. She was nothing more than a dead and fading kitsune.

Oh Kami. Are all kitsune really this dense and unbending in their ways? Believing that their jingshen just fade away and become nothing? The voice sounded scornful.

Koten Zanshun. was the last thing she heard before she fell in to unconsciousness.

The ash was all around her, falling in lazy circles around her body. Kiri tried to step forward and heard the crunch of snow beneath her feet. Eyes wide, she whirled. Where was she? The last thing she remembered was the sound of a voice saying something. How did she get here? Better yet, where was here?

"Where do you think here is? You're fairly dense for someone who's been around for a few hundred years, don't you think?"

It was the whispery voice from earlier, though this time it held a tremor of amusement.

Kiri glared at the shrouding ash before her. She hated being laughed at by anyone. Particularly by someone who didn't even know her.

The voice was openly laughing now "You are dense. I've been with you for 234 years, ever since you were killed. And as for where you are this is your inner world."

As the voice was talking the ash around her started to dissipate, allowing Kiri to see her surroundings for the first time. She was standing on top of a craggy snow and ash covered cliff. It towered over the other cliffs that made up a valley of some kind. Deep trenches lined both sides of the cliff.

Kiri didn't stare this for long, as she caught a glimpse of a nuzi standing on a small cloud of ash in the open air in front of the cliff.

She wore a black mask that covered her nose and mouth, reaching down to disappear under her robe. Her robe was different then anything Kiri had ever seen. It was light blue in color, sleeveless with a small amount of material covering her right shoulder to hold it up. A slit in robe that started above her left hip and continued down until it reached the end of the robe at her ankles moved with some invisible wind. There was a snow colored cloth belt over her hips just under where the slit started, and underneath the robe Kiri could just see a pair of dark blue leggings. On her feet, she wore brown ankle boots.

But the most curious thing about her was her left arm. Her shoulder was covered in some kind of armor: well, her arm was covered in a pale blue cloth, criss-crossed with darker blue ribbons that ended at her wrist. Her wrist was decorated with a single silver colored bangle about two inches long, with a thin, almost invisible wire hanging from it, and at the end of the wire was a single white and brown speckled feather.

Kiri's examination done, she looked in to this nuzi's grey eyes, which had sparkled with contained amusement since the beginning.

"Done with your examination now?" She asked in a bored voice, even as her lips threatened to pull upwards in a smirk.

"Who are you, and where am I?" Kiri questioned insted of answering.

The nuzi sighed before replying.

"This is your inner world and I am your zanpakuto spirit. Like I said." she muttered crankily, crossing her arms and narrowing her eyes.

"You're lying. Kitsune don't have zanpakuto, no more do we consort with lesser beings such as shinigami." Kiri retorted hotly, feeling her ears press themselves back against the sides of her head.

The nuzi sighed again, looking disappointed with her answer.

"There is no point in talking to someone who believes that kitsune are too far above others to become shinigami. But you already know that kisune can become hollow, the lowest form of being. What stops you from believing that you cannot be a shinigami? Nothing more then sixteen years of being told kitsune are the highest level of beings." the nuzi frowned.

"But there have be no records of any kitsune becoming shinigaimi before!" Kiri protested.

"There were over two thousand years ago, but once they were gone all kitsune with high levels of reishi before they were twenty were killed so that it wouldn't happen again. The Council were very reluctant to leave anyone who had a chance of becoming shinigami live." the nuzi snorted, tapping the side of her head before looking thoughtful. "Actually, you were murdered the day before they were going to kill you. So your linghun wasn't properly destroyed. That's why you were banished. Your linghun wasn't destroyed as it was supposed to be, and as a result, you've slowly been becoming a shinigami. If you look at yourself closely you'll realize it's true. Believe me."

Kiri looked down at herself and realized with a start that she was wearing the black shihakusho that the shinigami wore. She opened her mouth to say something when she was cut off by the nuzi.

"No. I will not tell my name to someone who still does not believe what is happening. But I won't let you forget about me either. So you'll be taking this with you."

A sword with a dusty blue colored hilt appeared in her hand, the hand guard shaped like a snowflake. The sheath was a blend of ash and embers, rather plain, but effective. Kiri looked up at the nuzi as the world faded to black for the second time today.

"Good luck, foolish kitsune."

When Kiri came too she was laying in an unfamiliar room, in an unfamiliar bed.

As she sat up, she realized two things. One, her clothes where shredded, and Two the zanpakuto was in her hand, Kiri sighed she didn't want to meet that nuzi again anytime soon.

The nuzi's whispery voice filled her mind as she laughed mockingly. You wish. I'll see you again soon enough.

Blinking, Kiri wondered what the hell had just happened, but paused as she heard voices in the other room. From the sounds of it, it was the group of people who had been on the roof at lunch. There was also some voices she didn't recognize, although she supposed that was to be expected.

As she looked around the room she noticed a small, neat pile of clothes beside her. Pulling them up to examine, she took note of the light blue tank top and the cargo pants. It wasn't exactly her style, but they would have to do.

She changed quickly before searching for any sign of shoes. Unfortunately, there weren't any in sight, but there was a mirror hanging on the wall opposite her.

Kiri stepped over to it and almost jumped. Her ears and tail were almost almost substantial. How was this possible? She was fading! Any signs of her kitsune heritage should have disappeared! It could only mean that her linghun and reishi were getting stronger.

Struck by the thought, Kiri decided to try something she had been unable to do for years, materialize something.

She started to concentrate, and as she did mist started to gather and take the shape of a simple white haori and sash. She put them on, wearing a small smile of satisafaction on her face. Then she collected the zanpakuto (she didnt think the nuzi would let her leave it there), and tucked it through the sash before headed for the door.

She was definitely curious to see how she had come to end up in this unfamiliar territory.

A/N:

Linghun – soul (chinese)

Nuzi - woman (chinese)

Well I hope you liked and would please reveiw, for my poor whiny beta's sake too.


	4. Chapter 4

**Thanks to my beta, Kurohane Ookami, for working on this chapter. **

-;-

Kiri paused, one hand on the door, her ears pricked as she listened to the people murmuring on the other side.

"Who the hell is she?" Ichigo demanded angrily to someone. "Actually, what the hell is she?"

"I believe she may be a kitsune." came the cheery answer. Kiri felt her ears flatten slightly at the realization that there was someone here who knew what she was.

"But that's impossible! The Kitsune died out years ago!"

It was like a blow to the face, hearing something like that stated so simply. Kiri felt her breath hitch. Everyone she had known...gone. Their lives faded from existence.

"That is false. The Kitsune are centered mostly in China today, and are forbidden to leave their territory and consort with lower beings. Their culture is vastly different than our own, and that is what makes them such oddities to shinigami." there was the know-it-all again. Kiri had somewhere along the line decided to call him the know-it-all, at least for now. She tuned back into what they were saying.

"If they are forbidden to leave their territory, how did she come to be in Japan?"

Huh. The man with the feathered eyebrows seemed to be here too.

"That is certainly odd. I don't know what she's doing here. I suppose we'll have to wait for her to get up and answer that for us."

The know-it-all's response drew a smirk from her, but that quickly changed back to a small frown. They would be in for a surprise if they thought she would tell them anything about that.

"How is it Kiri-san had enough reishi to attract a hollow of that level but not be able to do anything about it?"

_Hmmm.._ Kiri thought mused, wracking her brain for the brief image that went with the voice before coming up with the answer. It was the the big boobed girl from the school, Kiri couldnt recall if she had learned her name in the twenty or so minutes that she had been in class. Either way, she wasn't sure she liked that she had brought that up. Maybe she had been there too?

"Actually, her reishi was another thing I wanted to ask her about. It was rather low for a kitsune considering when she was brought here she barely registered...but it's been steadily rising since. As of now, her reishi is above and beyond the limits of a Kitsune."

Hold on a moment. Kitsune had a reishi limit? Since when?

"What do you mean, 'higher then the limit'?" someone else asked. Sounded a lot like the Pineapple-head.

"There is a limit to the amount of reishi a kitsune can have." the know-it-all exlained. "If they exceed this amount there is a chance that when they die they will become shinigami; lesser beings in their eyes. This is considered to be unacceptable by them. So, if by their twentieth birthday a kitsune has more then the allowed amount of reishi, then they are killed and their linghun distroyed." Kiri felt a chill go down her spine when he said this. It sounded just like what the-

_Ooh...I like this one. He's rather smart, considering he's in the presence of a higher ranked being._

Why, of all the people it could have been, did the nuzi in her head have to be this one? Whatever the anwser was, Kiri had decided that they had done enough talking. She paused for a second to solidify her plan.

She opened the door swiftly, glancing around the room, ignoring the eleven staring people as her mischievous eyes settled on the opposite side of the room.

Yes, there was another door on the other side, and she sauntered across the space as if she owned it after entering and closing the door behind her, using a small amount of her reishi to lock it. Then, she exited the room and again used a small amount of reishi to lock it. That done, she leaned against the door with a rather evil smile.

Her reishi lock needed a special key to open. If someone simply bashed at it with their reishi, it would absorb it and become stronger. _Kami_, she had fogotten how much fun it was to use reishi. It was too bad she was incredibly out of practice.

Humming a tune to herself, Kiri thought on the people that she had seen in the now barricaded room. The people she knew were Ichigo, Sado and Rukia, then the girl with the big boobs, the black haired guy with glasses from school, Pineapple-head, Baldy and the guy with the creepy feathered eyebrows.

Kami, she needed to learn their names. It was extremely annoying to list them this way. There had also been three others in the room, all three strangers. There was another rather large chested woman, with a chain of some kind looped around her slender neck before trailing between her breasts, and a small child looking boy with snow white hair. Why would there be a shinigami pup here? Finally, there was a blond man, wearing a strange green and white striped hat. She couldn't quite take a guess as to who the know-it-all was, but if she had to place bets, Kiri would place hers on him.

As she listened to the outraged cries from within the room, Kiri took note of the fact that she was rather hungry. Furrowing her brows, she followed the hall, hoping to come across something that could be compared to food.

-;-

Toshiro was the first to get up and test the door, and was shocked when he couldn't open it. In fact, none of them could open it.

"What the fuck did she do to the door!?" Ichigo shouted, trying the other door and also finding it locked.

Urahara, who hadn't moved from his position on the floor, pulled out his fan and snapped it open.

"Kitsune are tricksters by nature and love to pick on people." he nodded. "Locks like the one she put on the door are childish but effective tricks. This particular trick used requires a special key that only the maker of the lock has, unless of course the key has been granted to someone else."

There was a moment of silence.

"Oh, and by the way, Ishida-san," Urahara added, glancing over at said Quincy. The raven haired male had been about to shoot an arrow at the closed door, a look of utmost determination crossing his features, "These locks absorb reishi and transfers it over to a timer. Depending on the amount of reishi that has been used against the lock, the period of the timer also varies. Even if the key were to be used by someone other than this kitsune, the timer will still have to expire before we may leave. Something that Kurosaki doesn't seem to understand."

Most of the population in the room turned to look over at Ichigo, who had drawn Zangetsu and was no attempting his usual form of winning against someone: beating the crap out of whatever got in his way.

"So we have to wait for that woman to open the door?" Toshiro scowled after turning away from Ichigo, crossing his arms.

"Pretty much." Urahara replied with his usual grin.

-;-

Kiri found Tessai in the kitchen. When the large framed man had seen her, he just motioned her to the table and gave her a bowl of ramen.

As she ate, Kiri pondered what she wanted to do now. Sure, the lock had been fun, but she wasn't really in the mood for an interrogation from these people she didn't even know or want to know.

In the end, she decided she just wanted to head home and pass out on the couch. After thanking Tessai for the food, the weary kitsune left and headed home.

-;-

It wasn't until she was unlocking her door two hours later she remembered about her reishi lock on the other door. Not that she really cared; she just wanted sleep. Kiri snapped her fingers and sent the key to open the lock.

She sent it to the white haired boy on a whim. Idly, Kiri wondered when he would realize it.

But none of this was her concern any longer. She was exhausted, sore, and wanted all of this to be a dream. But for the moment, she would have to settle with sleeping for as long as she could.


	5. Chapter 5

_Beep Beep Beep_

_Curse that motherfucking alarm._ Kiri thought mutinously as she sat up on her couch, blinking sleepily. She sighed deeply.

Did she really want to go to school? If she did, did she really, _really _want to deal with the stupid socks that restricted her movements? Not to mention if the white haired shinigami pup had found the key she'd left him yet. Why hadn't she put a tracer on it so that she would know when it opened?

Oh. Right. Because she'd completely forgotten about that until just now. Kami, she was out of practice. Anyway, back to her original train of thought. School or not?

-;-

In the end it, was Kiri's stomach that decided for her. She had absolutely no food in the apartment yet, and the only grocery store she had found so far was right near the school. Way too close to be able to retrieve any food without being caught. So...she supposed that meant that she was going to school, however reluctant she was about it.

Kiri took a minute to stare at the socks as she got dressed before muttering "Fuck it." and carelessly tossing them towards the small garbage can against one wall of the room.

She could always say she forgot about them, playing the new student card. The only other problem that she could see was the katana. Kiri highly doubted that the nuzi would let her leave it behind, but it was attention grabbing. Not exactly something that she wanted to broadcast to the world, considering her exile status.

_Hmm...shall I give you a hand with that? _

Kiri jumped slightly before realizing who the voice belonged to and allowed her lip to curl. It was the kami damned nuzi again. Why exactly did she find it so necessary to be so irritating? She was a kitsune, the exact opposite of the shinigami! Not some whipped pet that had to take care of any and every little thing that she was told to do. Her irritation must have been seeping through her thoughts, because a moment later, the nuzi sighed.

_Fine. You may leave it here then. But I will have you know that it does not sit well with me. _

Something in the nuzi's tone almost made her stop. But she was going to be late. _Screw it._ she thought. She didn't care anymore.

-;-

Kiri barely beat the bell.

She had sprinted all the way there, almost getting hit by several vehicles along the way and having to vault over a low concrete wall at one point. Kiri was marveling at the fact that she was barely breathing hard.

It was almost as if her kitsune stamina had returned. Then again, if she were to go by anything the nuzi had said...

She had walked into her homeroom just as the bell rang, and was vaguely amused to see that none of the people that she had locked in the room at the odd little shop the previous day present. She found herself snorting; whether from relief or the amusement that the white haired pup hadn't figured out that she had given him the key she didn't know.

Well, it didn't matter either way.

Taking her seat, Kiri automatically tuned out, her thoughts drifting back to reishi manipulation, and through that, the memories that came with the particular thought.

-;-

Around the same time in one of Urahara's back rooms, there was a rather loud argument taking place.

"Why the hell can't I just bash through the wall!?" Ichigo yelled at Urahara. The blond man snapped his fan into place, his eyes gleaming from the shadow of his hat.

"Well...because this room has been locked in a net of reishi. Trying to destroy it will just cause the net to tighten and the count on the timer to go up."

Before Ichigo could start protesting again, Yumichika interrupted with a sudden low moan.

"Does anyone have any food? A piece of candy? Anything! If I go without food for another minute my beauty will start to fade!"

The response came in the form of various disgruntled 'No's' and 'Why the hell are you asking me's?'. Rukia just sighed, crossing her arms and leaning back on the spot she was seated at. Her dark eyes were calculating as she stared at the door with a slight scowl imprinted on her lips.

"Captain has candy..." Matsumoto finally offered, cringing as said Captain leveled his baleful stare at her. The temperature of the room seemed to drop several degrees, and everyone decided that now would probably be a good time to move out of the way. Just in case, of course.

"Matsumoto..." Toshiro growled before he pounced, launching his small frame across the table. With a shriek that was very much capable of shattering eardrums, Matsumoto went down, a hostile Hitsugaya pinning her there.

When the squabble was over and everyone went to their respective corners, Toshiro was left pawing through all of his pockets in search of any candy that he may still have on his person, courtesy of Ukitake.

Unfortunately, Toshiro was not in possession of any candy, but it turned out that Urahara did. While some of them started examining their candy, a little unsure of the source, Toshiro, Rukia and Ichigo remained the way they had been before the drama had started.

Ichigo bent down to grab something that must have fallen from Toshiro's pocket as he had been rummaging through them, and held it closer for inspection.

"Hey Toshiro, is this a key? Is it made of re-"

"How many times do I have to tell you it's Captain Hitsu- what's that?" Toshiro paused, staring blankly at the small grey key made of condensed reishi in Ichigo's hand. "Where the hell were you hiding that!?"

"How the hell am I supposed to know!? It was in your pocket!" the redhead retorted.

"Well, it's not my key," Toshiro snapped back defensively, crossing his arms with a sulky expression.

"Is it the key to the reishi net?" Sado interjected before they could start again. The dark skinned male tilted his head to one side as several clueless looks were sent his way, and he shrugged. "It's possible, right?"

Urahara hummed vaguely and nodded, flapping his fan around in his usual fashion for a long moment before folding it and pointing at Rukia. "I'm sure our friend Kuchiki-san will be glad to test out this theory."

"Uhhh...Give me that." Rukia stuttered, looking warily at the shopkeeper as though he'd grown two heads. In other words, he'd nailed it right on the head. Her curiosity was getting the best of her. Before Ichigo had the opportunity to hand it to the smaller woman, however, she beat him to the punch, snatching the key from the clueless teen's hands before holding it up to the door. Almost immediately, the reishi making up the key reshaped itself into a counter that floated in the air, predicting a countdown.

-;-

Kiri was roused from her daydreaming quite abruptly, as something nailed her squarely between her eyes. Glancing down, the Kitsune was only vaguely surprised to see a chalkboard eraser lying innocently on her desktop.

"Zalanshi. Hall. Now." Kiri stared up into the bipolar eyes of her homeroom teacher, and so with no other seeable options, she stood and left the room. The door slammed behind her, causing her to wince as she felt the breeze disturb the air around her.

But she didn't stop in the hall.

She continued up to the roof. There was no one out there today. It was quiet. The sun was warm on her shoulders. Smoothly, she walked to the railing that surrounded the roof and looked out over the rooftops of the town of Karakura.

_I don't know why I'm suddenly feeling emotions. _she thought sourly. _Before the nuzi, I was just fine. I was keeping my distance and avoiding all of these strange feelings. Now I'm beginning to get involved. I should have just left that stupid shop. I didn't have to do any of those things to those shinigami. _

Kiri stood for several long moments, thinking, before she heard giggling behind her. Turning to investigate, she wasn't given the opportunity to do anything as a sudden gust of wind slammed into her form. There was a single moment of weightlessness, and then she realized that she was falling. Closing her eyes, she braced herself for the impact on the pavement that waited below.

But it never came. Instead, she found herself lying on her carpet. In her apartment.

Definitely not falling.

-;-

The foggy timer read fifty hours.

"You baka! how many times did you hit it!?" Uryu snarled at Ichigo.

"I don't know once or twice?" Ichigo stuttered, taken aback by the sudden ferocity that the dark haired male was displaying in his direction.

"Five; that moron hit it five times." Renji waved in Ichigo's general direction, startling Matsumoto, who had been sitting next to him the entire time and not noticing that the pineapple-head was still there.

Before the steadily rising tempers could snap, Urahara stood.

"Don't forget, there is still the reishi timer to consider. Given Kurosaki's monstrous reiatsu, it seems that there is a ten hour penalty for each hit. Therefore, it is logical that this is all his fault and we should all banish him~"

Trust Urahara to bring that light of a tone to any kind of situation. Even if it was one like the one that the several shinigami found themselves in at this particular moment.

-;-

**A/N I do not own bleach**

**Thank you my whiny beta. c:**


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